Song of the South | film by Foster and Jackson [1946] | Britannica.com Song of the South film by Foster and Jackson [1946] Written By: Star Wars Song of the South, American semianimated musical film , released in 1946 by the Disney Company , that is rarely aired or shown in the United States because of controversial “racial” aspects of the film . Based on the Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris , the film is set in the American South of the latter half of the 19th century and traces the adventures of a little boy, Johnny (played by Bobby Driscoll), who moves with his family from Atlanta to a rural plantation. After his parents argue and his father goes back to Atlanta, Johnny runs away from home. He befriends Uncle Remus ( James Baskett ), who can seemingly communicate with animals and charms him with fascinating tales (told in animation) of the quick-witted Brer Rabbit . Uncle Remus’s stories always have morals that Johnny applies to his life. Song of the South introduced the famous song “ Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah , ” which won an Academy Award .

Baskett was also awarded an honorary Academy Award “for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world, in Walt Disney’s Song of the South.” Although the film was a box-office success, it was disparaged by some critics and such African American organizations as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for the character of Uncle Remus, who was seen as subservient and demeaning to African Americans. The film was also criticized for its depiction of 19th-century Southern life, in which simple African Americans happily work for white plantation owners. The Disney Company rereleased the film theatrically on several occasions, most recently in 1986, but has since withheld it and has never released it in the United States on home video. Production notes and credits Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Original) - YouTube Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Original) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on May 24, 2012 The hit song from From Walt Disney's "Song of the South" released in 1946 was "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", which won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Song and is frequently used as part of Disney's montage themes, and which has become widely used in popular culture. The film inspired the Disney theme park attraction Splash Mountain. The film was a combination of live action and animation. Disney hired vaudeville and radio actor James Baskett to portray Uncle Remus. Song of the South | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Song of the South [Source] Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures , based on the Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the adventures of Br'er Rabbit and his friends. These anthropomorphic animal characters appear in animation.

The hit song from the film was " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah ", which won the 1947 Academy Award for Best Song and is frequently used as part of Disney's montage themes, and which has become widely used in popular culture. The film inspired the Disney theme park attraction Splash Mountain . The film has never been released in its entirety on Laserdisc, Beta and VHS in the U.S.A. or on DVD and Blu-ray worldwide, because of the content of racism and stereotypes of African-Americans. Some portions of this film have been issued on VHS and DVD as part of either compilations or special editions of Disney films. Contents [ show ] Setting The setting of the film is the deep South of the Reconstruction era. Harris' original Uncle Remus stories were all set after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery (Harris himself, born in 1845, was a racial reconciliation activist writer and journalist of the Reconstruction era). The film makes several indirect references to the Reconstruction era: clothing is in the newer late-Victorian style; Uncle Remus is free to leave the plantation at will; black field hands are sharecroppers, etc.

Plot Seven-year-old Johnny is excited about what he believes to be a vacation at his grandmother's Georgia plantation with his parents, John Sr. and Sally . When they arrive at the plantation, he discovers that his parents will be living apart for a while and he is to live in the country with his mother and grandmother while his father returns to Atlanta to continue his controversial editorship in the city's newspaper. Johnny, distraught because his father has never left him or his mother before, leaves that night under cover of darkness and sets off for Atlanta with only a bundle. As Johnny sneaks away from the plantation, he is attracted by the voice of Uncle Remus (the main character of the film), telling tales "in his old-timey way" of a character named Br'er Rabbit . Curious, Johnny hides behind a nearby tree to spy on the group of people sitting around the fire. By this time, word has gotten out that Johnny is gone and some plantation residents, who are sent out to find him, ask if Uncle Remus has seen the boy. Uncle Remus replies that he's with him. Shortly afterwards, he catches up with Johnny, who sits crying on a nearby log.

He befriends the young boy and offers him some food for the journey, taking him back to his cabin. As Uncle Remus cooks, he mentions Br'er Rabbit again and the boy, curious, asks him to tell him more. After Uncle Remus tells a tale about Br'er Rabbit's attempt to run away from home, Johnny takes the advice and changes his mind about leaving the plantation, letting Uncle Remus take him back to his mother. Johnny makes friends with Toby, a little black boy who lives on the plantation, and Ginny Favers , a poor white neighbor. However, Ginny's two older brothers, Joe and Jake—who are meant to resemble Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear for one is slick and fast-talking, while the other is big and a little slow—are not friendly at all; they constantly bully Ginny and Johnny. When Ginny gives Johnny a puppy, her brothers want to drown it. A rivalry breaks out among the three boys. Heartbroken because his mother won't let him keep the puppy, Johnny takes the dog to Uncle Remus and tells him of his troubles.

Uncle Remus takes the dog in and delights Johnny and his friends with the fable of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby , stressing that people shouldn't go messing around with something they have no business with in the first place. Clockwise from left: Ginny ( Luana Patten ), Uncle Remus ( James Baskett ), Johnny ( Bobby Driscoll ) and Toby (Glenn Leedy) Johnny heeds the advice of how Br'er Rabbit used reverse psychology on Br'er Fox and begs the Favers Brothers not to tell their mother about the dog, which is precisely what they do, only to get a good spanking for it. Enraged, the boys vow revenge. They go to the plantation and tell Johnny's mother, who is upset that Uncle Remus kept the dog despite her order (which was unknown to Uncle Remus). She orders the old man not to tell any more stories to her son. The day of Johnny's birthday arrives, and Johnny picks up Ginny to take her to his party. Ginny's mother has used her wedding dress to make her daughter a beautiful dress for the party. On the way there, however, Joe and Jake pick another fight.

Ginny gets pushed, and ends up in a mud puddle. With her dress ruined, the upset Ginny refuses to go to the party. Johnny, enraged with the way Joe and Jake treat Ginny, attacks them. Uncle Remus breaks up the fight and while Johnny goes to comfort Ginny, Uncle Remus scolds Joe and Jake, telling them not to pester Johnny and Ginny anymore. Johnny doesn't want to go either, especially since his father won't be there. Uncle Remus discovers the two dejected children and cheers them by telling the story of Br'er Rabbit and his "Laughing Place." When Uncle Remus returns to the plantation with the children, Sally meets them on the way and is angry at Johnny for not having attended his own birthday party. Ginny mentions that Uncle Remus told them a story and Sally draws a line, warning him not to spend any more time with Johnny. Uncle Remus, saddened by the misunderstanding of his good intentions, packs his bags and leaves for Atlanta. Seeing Uncle Remus leaving from a distance, Johnny rushes to intercept him, taking a shortcut through the pasture, where he is attacked and seriously injured by the resident bull.

While Johnny hovers between life and death, his father returns and reconciles with Sally. But Johnny calls for Uncle Remus, who has returned amidst all the commotion. Uncle Remus begins telling a tale of Br'er Rabbit and the Laughing Place, and the boy miraculously survives. Johnny, Ginny, and Toby are next seen skipping along and singing " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah " while Johnny's returned puppy runs alongside them. Uncle Remus is also in the vicinity, and he is shocked when Br'er Rabbit and several of the other characters from his stories appear in front of them and interact with the children. Uncle Remus breaks the fourth wall as he rushes to join the group. The entire group skips away, with a reprise of the opening theme. Animation Br'er Rabbit takes Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear to his "laughing place" There are three animated segments in the movie (in all, they last a total of 25 minutes). These animated sequences were also shown as stand-alone cartoon features on the Disney television show. Each of these segments features at least one song that is heard in the various versions of Splash Mountain .

" Br'er Rabbit Runs Away": about 8 minutes, including the song " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah " " Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby ": about 12 minutes, interrupted with a short live-action scene about two thirds of the way into the cartoon, including the song "How Do You Do?" " Br'er Rabbit 's Laughing Place": about 5 minutes and the only segment that doesn't use Uncle Remus as an intro to its main story, including the song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" The last couple of minutes of the movie contain animation, as most of the cartoon characters show up in a live-action world to meet the live-action characters (a combination of live-action and animation) as they all sing " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah ", and in the last seconds of the movie, the real world is slowly merged into an animated variation as the main protagonists walk off into the sunset. Cast The DeCastro Sisters - Bird voices History and production Walt Disney goes over the storyboards with Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten in a publicity photo for the film.

Walt Disney had long wanted to make a film based on the Uncle Remus storybook, but it wasn't until the mid-1940s that he had found a way to give the stories an adequate film equivalent, in scope and fidelity. "I always felt that Uncle Remus should be played by a living person," Disney is quoted as saying, "as should also the young boy to whom Harris' old Negro philosopher relates his vivid stories of the Briar Patch. Several tests in previous pictures, especially in The Three Caballeros , were encouraging in the way living action and animation could be dovetailed. Finally, months ago, we 'took our foot in hand,' in the words of Uncle Remus, and jumped into our most venturesome but also more pleasurable undertaking." Disney first began to negotiate with Harris' family for the rights in 1939, and by late summer of that year he already had one of his storyboard artists summarize the more promising tales and draw up four boards' worth of story sketches. In November 1940, Disney visited the Harris' home in Atlanta.

He told Variety that he wanted to "get an authentic feeling of Uncle Remus country so we can do as faithful a job as possible to these stories." Roy Oliver Disney had misgivings about the project, doubting that it was "big enough in caliber and natural draft" to warrant a budget over $1 million and more than twenty-five minutes of animation, but in June 1944, Walt hired Southern-born writer Dalton Reymond to write the screenplay, and he met frequently with King Vidor, whom he was trying to interest in directing the live-action sequences. Filming on location in Phoenix, Arizona Production started under the title Uncle Remus. Filming began in December 1944 in Phoenix, where the studio had constructed a plantation and cotton fields for outdoor scenes, and Walt Disney left for the location to oversee what he called "atmospheric shots." Back in Hollywood, the live action scenes were filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio. Writing Dalton Reymond wrote a treatment for the film.

Because Reymond was not a professional screenwriter, Maurice Rapf, who had been writing live-action features at the time, was asked by the Walt Disney Company to work with Reymond and co writer Callum Webb to turn the treatment into a shootable screenplay. According to Neal Gabler, one of the reasons Disney had hired Rapf to work with Reymond was to temper what Disney feared would be Reymond's white Southern slant. Rapf was a minority, a Jew, and an outspoken left-winger, and he himself feared that the film would inevitably be Uncle Tomish. "That's exactly why I want you to work on it," Walt told him, "because I know that you don't think I should make the movie. You're against Uncle Tomism, and you're a radical." Rapf initially hesitated, but when he found out that most of the film would be live-action and that he could make extensive changes, he accepted the offer. Rapf worked on Uncle Remus for about seven weeks. When he got into a personal dispute with Reymond, Rapf was taken off the project.

According to Rapf, Walt Disney "ended every conference by saying 'Well, I think we've really licked it now. Then he'd call you the next morning and say, 'I've got a new idea.' And he'd have one. Sometimes the ideas were good, sometimes they were terrible, but you could never really satisfy him."Morton Grant was assigned to the project. Disney sent out the script for comment both within the studio and outside the studio. Casting Song of the South was the first live-action dramatic film made by Disney. James Baskett was cast as Uncle Remus after answering an ad to provide the voice of a talking butterfly. "I thought that, maybe, they'd try me out to furnish the voice for one of Uncle Remus' animals", Baskett is quoted as saying. Upon review of his voice, Disney wanted to meet Baskett personally, and had him tested for the role of Uncle Remus. Not only did Baskett get the part of the butterfly's voice, but also the voice of Br'er Fox and the live-action role of Uncle Remus as well.

Additionally, Baskett filled in as the voice of Br'er Rabbit for Johnny Lee in the "Laughing Place" scene after Lee was called away to do promotion for the picture. Walt Disney liked Baskett, and told his sister, Ruth Disney, that Baskett was the best actor, I believe, to be discovered in years. Even after the film's release, Walt stayed in contact with Baskett. Disney also campaigned for Baskett to be given an Academy Award for his performance, saying that he had worked almost wholly without direction and had devised the characterization of Remus himself. Thanks to Disney's efforts, Baskett won an honorary Oscar in 1948. After Baskett's death, his widow wrote Disney and told him that he had been a friend indeed and [we] certainly have been in need. Also cast in the production were child actors Bobby Driscoll , Luana Patten , and Glenn Leedy (his only screen appearance). Driscoll was the first actor to be under a personal contract with the Disney studio. Patten had been a professional model since age 3, and caught the attention of Disney when she appeared on the cover of Woman's Home Companion magazine.

Leedy was discovered on the playground of the Booker T. Washington School in Phoenix, AZ by a talent scout from the Disney studio. Ruth Warrick and Erik Rolf, cast as Johnny's mother and father, had actually been married during filming, but divorced in 1946. Hattie McDaniel also appeared in the role of Aunt Tempy. Direction The animated segments of the film were directed by Wilfred Jackson , while the live-action segments were directed by Harve Foster. On the final day of shooting, Jackson discovered that the scene in which Uncle Remus sings the film's signature song, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, had not been properly blocked. According to Jackson, "We all sat there in a circle with the dollars running out, and nobody came up with anything. Then Walt suggested that they shoot Baskett in close-up, cover the lights with cardboard save for a sliver of blue sky behind his head, and then remove the cardboard from the lights when he began singing so that he would seem to be entering a bright new world of animation.

Like Walt's idea for Bambi on ice , it made for one of the most memorable scenes in the film." Release The film premiered on November 12, 1946 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Walt Disney made introductory remarks, introduced the cast, then quietly left for his room at the Georgian Terrace Hotel across the street; he had previously stated that unexpected audience reactions upset him and he was better off not seeing the film with an audience. James Baskett was unable to attend the film's premiere because he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, as Atlanta was then a racially segregated city. In a 15 October 1946 article in the Atlanta Constitution, columnist Harold Martin noted that to bring Baskett to Atlanta, where he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, "would cause him many embarrassments, for his feelings are the same as any man's." The modern claim that no Atlanta hotel would give Baskett accommodation is false: there were several black-owned hotels in the Sweet Auburn area of downtown Atlanta at the time, including the Savoy and the McKay. The film grossed $3.3 million at the box office.

As had been done earlier with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , Walt Disney produced a Sunday strip titled Uncle Remus & His Tales of Br'er Rabbit to give the film pre-release publicity. The strip was launched by King Features on October 14, 1945, more than a year before the film was released. Unlike the Snow White comic strip, which only adapted the film, Uncle Remus ran for decades, telling one story after another about the characters, some based on the legends and others new, until it ended on December 31, 1972. Apart from the newspaper strips, Disney Br'er Rabbit comics were also produced for comic books; the first such stories appeared in late 1946. Produced both by Western Publishing and European publishers such as Egmont, they continue to appear to this day. In 1946, a Giant Golden Book entitled Walt Disney's Uncle Remus Stories was published by Simon & Schuster. It featured 23 illustrated stories of Br'er Rabbit's escapades, all told in a Southern dialect based on the original Joel Chandler Harris stories.

Critical response Although the film was a financial success, netting the studio a slim profit of $226,000, some critics were less enthusiastic to the film, not so much to the animated portions as to the live-action portions. Bosley Crowther for one wrote in The New York Times, "More and more, Walt Disney's craftsmen have been loading their feature films with so-called 'live action' in place of their animated whimsies of the past, and by just those proportions has the magic of these Disney films decreased." Crowther cited the ratio of live action to animation at two to one, which translated to "approximately the ratio of its mediocrity to its charm," and concluded that "the Disney wonder workers are just a lot of conventional hacks when it comes to telling a story with live action instead of cartoons." However, the film also received positive notice. Time magazine called the film "topnotch Disney." In 2003, the Online Film Critics Society ranked the film as the 67th greatest animated film of all time. Controversies Even early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy.

Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "the negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial." When the film was first released, Walter Francis White, the executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) telegraphed major newspapers around the country with the following statement: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People recognizes in 'Song of the South' remarkable artistic merit in the music and in the combination of living actors and the cartoon technique. It regrets, however, that in an effort neither to offend audiences in the north or south, the production helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery. Making use of the beautiful Uncle Remus folklore, 'Song of the South' unfortunately gives the impression of an idyllic master-slave relationship which is a distortion of the facts.

White, however, had not yet seen the film; his statement was based on memos he received from two NAACP staff members who attended a press screening on November 20, 1946, Norma Jensen and Hope Springarn. Jensen had written that the film was "so artistically beautiful that it is difficult to be provoked over the clichés" but that it contained "all the clichés in the book," mentioning that she felt scenes like blacks singing traditional black songs were offensive as a stereotype. Springarn listed several things she found objectionable from the film, including the Negro dialect. "Both Jensen and Springarn were also confused" by the film’s Reconstruction setting, states Jim Hill Media, writing that “It was something that also confused other reviewers who from the tone of the film and the type of similar recent Hollywood movies [Gone with the Wind; Jezebel] assumed it must also be set during the time of slavery.” Based on the Jensen and Springarn memos, White released the “official position” of the NAACP in a telegram that was widely quoted in newspapers.

New York Times’ Bosley Crowther, mentioned above, made a similar assumption, writing that the movie was a "travesty on the antebellum South." In the same vein, Time magazine, also mentioned above, cautioned that the film would "land its maker in hot water," because the character of Uncle Remus was "bound to enrage all educated Negroes, and a number of damyankees." Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a congressman from Harlem, branded the film an "insult to American minorities" and "everything that America as a whole stands for." The National Negro Congress even went as far as to set up picket lines in theaters in the big cities where the film played, with its protesters holding signs that read "Song of the South is an insult to the Negro people" and, lampooning "Jingle Bells," chanted: "Disney tells, Disney tells/lies about the South." Even the Jewish community was turned off by the film; comparing Song of the South to the Holocaust, the B'nai B'rith Messenger of Los Angeles pronounced that the film "tallies with the reputation that Disney is making for himself as an arch-reactionary." At the same time, however, some black printed

 material had mixed reactions on what they thought of Song of the South.

While Richard B. Dier in The Afro-American was "thoroughly disgusted" by the film for being "as vicious a piece of propaganda for white supremacy as Hollywood ever produced," Herman Hill in The Pittsburgh Courier felt that Song of the South would "prove of inestimable goodwill in the furthering of interracial relations." Reviewing the negative aspects of the film, Ebony magazine considered such criticisms to be "unadulterated hogwash symptomatic of the unfortunate racial neurosis that seems to be gripping so many of our humorless brethren these days." The Disney Company has stated that, like Harris' book, the film takes place after the American Civil War and that all the African American characters in the movie are no longer slaves. The Hays Office had asked Disney to "be certain that the frontispiece of the book mentioned establishes the date in the 1870s," however, the final film carried no such statement. Academy Award recognition The score by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J.

Smith, and Charles Wolcott was nominated in the "Scoring of a Musical Picture" category, and " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah ", written by Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert won the award for Best Song at the 20th Academy Awards on March 20, 1948. Song of the South opened in Los Angeles in 1947, which became its qualification year for the awards. A special Academy Award was given "To James Baskett for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney's 'Song of the South.'" Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten in their portrayals of the children characters Johnny and Ginny were also discussed for Special Juvenile Awards, but in 1947 it was decided not to present such awards at all.

Re-releases Song of the South was re-released in theatres several times after its original Walt Disney Pictures/RKO Pictures premiere, each time through Buena Vista Pictures : in 1956; in 1972 for Walt Disney's 50th anniversary; in 1973 as the second-half of a double bill with The Aristocats ; in 1980 for the 100th anniversary of Harris' classic stories; and in 1986 for the film's own 40th anniversary and in promotion of the upcoming Splash Mountain attraction at three of Disney's theme parks. Home media Disney Enterprises has avoided making the complete version of the film directly available on home video in the United States because the frame story was deemed controversial by studio management. Film critic Roger Ebert, who normally disdains any attempt to keep films from any audience, has supported the non-release position, claiming that most Disney films become a part of the consciousness of American children, who take films more literally than do adults. However, he favors allowing film students to have access to the film. Over the years, Disney has made a variety of statements about whether and when the film would be re-released.

In March 2010, Disney CEO Robert Iger stated that there were no plans to release the movie on DVD, calling the film "antiquated" and "fairly offensive". Most recently, however, on November 15, 2010, Disney creative director Dave Bossert stated in an interview, "I can say there's been a lot of internal discussion about Song of the South. And at some point we're going to do something about it. I don't know when, but we will. We know we want people to see Song of the South because we realize it's a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way." Disney Enterprises has allowed key portions of the film to be issued on many VHS and DVD compilation videos in the U.S., as well as on the long-running Walt Disney anthology television series.

Most recently, the " Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah " number and some of the animated portion of the movie were issued on the Alice in Wonderland 2-DVD Special Edition set, although in that instance this was originally incorporated as part of a 1950 Walt Disney TV special included on the DVD which promoted the then-forthcoming Alice in Wonderland film. The film has been released on video in its entirety in various European, Latin American, and Asian countries—in the UK it was released on PAL VHS tape in 1982 and again in 1991, and in Japan (where under Japanese copyright law it is in the public domain) it appeared on NTSC VHS, BETA and laserdisc with subtitles, while a NTSC laserdisc was bootlegged in Hong Kong from the UK PAL videotape. Despite the Hong Kong laserdisc being NTSC, it has a 4% faster running time due to its PAL source, and thus also suffers from "frame ghosting".

While most foreign releases of the film are almost direct translations of the English title (Canción del Sur in Spanish, Mélodie du Sud in French, Melodie Van Het Zuiden in Dutch, Sången om södern in Swedish, A Canção do Sul in Portuguese, and Etelän laulu in Finnish), the German title Onkel Remus' Wunderland translates to "Uncle Remus' Wonderland", the Italian title I Racconti Dello Zio Tom translates to "The Stories of Uncle Tom", and the Norwegian title Onkel Remus forteller translates roughly to "Storyteller Uncle Remus." Despite the film's lack of home video release directly to consumers in the United States, audio from the film—both the musical soundtrack and dialogue—were made widely available to the public from the time of the film's debut up through the late 1970's. In particular, many Book-and-Record sets were released, alternately featuring the animated portions of the film or summaries of the film as a whole.

Additionally, bootleg copies of the film in NTSC format, converted either from the UK PAL videotape or from a Dutch version based on the laserdisc, with subtitles made by amateurs, are widely available and have been sold in the United States at retail outlets and on online auctions with no legal action being taken by The Walt Disney Company. References in other Disney media As early as October, 1945, a newspaper strip named "Walt Disney presents "Uncle Remus" and his tales of Br'er Rabbit" appeared in the United States, and this production continued until 1972. There has also been episodes for the series produced for the Disney comic books worldwide, in USA, Denmark and the Netherlands, from the 40's up until the present day. Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox also appeared frequently in Disney's Big Bad Wolf stories, although here, Br'er Bear was usually cast as an honest farmer and family man, instead of the bad guy in his original appearances. Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, Br'er Bear and Mr. Bluebird appeared as guests in Disney's House of Mouse . Br'er Bear also appears in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit .

Several of the more minor critter characters, such as Br'er Frog and Mr. Bluebird , appeared briefly in the Mickey Mouse Works cartoon " Computer.Don ". Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear also appeared in the 2011 Xbox 360 video game Kinect Disneyland Adventures . The game is a virtual recreation of Disneyland and it features a mini-game based on the Splash Mountain attraction. Br'er Rabbit helps guide the player character through that game, while Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear serve as antagonists. The 3 Br'ers also appear as meet-and-greet characters in the game, outside Splash Mountain in Critter Country. In the game, Jess Harnell reprises his roles from the attraction as Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox, while Br'er Bear is now voiced by James Avery , who previously voiced Br'er Bear and Br'er Frog in the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain. This is the Br'ers' first appearance in a video game, as well as their first appearance as computer-generated characters.

Home video history (all international) 1983 VHS and Beta, UK 1983 VHS, France, Germany and Italy 1985 VHS and LaserDisc, Japan 1986 VHS and Beta, Mexico, distributed by VideoVisa 1990 LaserDisc, Hong Kong 1991 VHS, UK, Israel, Germany, Italy, Spain and Argentina (Distributed by Gativideo) 1992 VHS, Portugal, France and Japan 1997 VHS, Holland 1000+ images about Song of the South on Pinterest | Feature film, Songs and Uncle remus Forward *JOHNNY, UNCLE REMUS & ??? ~Song of the South:1946...is an emotional film that tugs on your heart strings the way that you expect from Disney.

It's distinct, however,because the appeal is unique to the live action actors in a way that Disney had ever done before this point.BobbyDriscoll as Johnny is a very appealing protagonist, playing a boy who has been left behind in the thought of his father+ mother.He turns to UncleRemus, played by: James Baskett to fill that void in his life. See More 1000+ images about Uncle Remus Song of the South on Pinterest | Disney, Image search and Crows James Baskett - was Uncle Remus in Walt Disney's "Song of the South" he also was the voice of Brer Fox in the movie,1946, and the voice of Preacher Crow in Disney's Dumbo, 1941 See More Song of the South.net - The Movie: Biographies: James Baskett James Baskett as Uncle Remus Born: February 16, 1904; Indianapolis, IN Died: July 9, 1948; Los Angeles, CA (Age 44) James attended Tech High School where he studied his passion, pharmacology.

Due to lack of money, though, he abandoned his studies to pursue his untrained dramatic talent. While visiting Chicago, he was lured to the stage and performed under the Salem Whitney and Homer Tutt Troupes before moving to New York to join Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's company. James quickly established himself as one of the leading black performers in New York and appeared in several of Lew Leslie's annual "Blackbird" productions. "And since then," said Baskett in a 1946 interview, "I've never been out of show business, and pharmacology just became a lost dream." In California, Baskett met comedian Freeman Gosden of the "Amos 'N' Andy" radio program and invited him to join the cast. Baskett's role as the fast-talking lawyer Gabby Gibson earned him a national reputation and roles in such B-rated movies as Harlem in Heaven (1932), Straight to Heaven, Policy Man (1938), Comes Midnight (1940), and Revenge of the Zombies (1943). In 1945, Baskett answered an ad to provide the voice of a talking butterfly in Walt Disney's Song of the South.

"I thought that, maybe, they'd try me out to furnish the voice for one of Uncle Remus' animals," recalls Baskett. Upon review of his voice, Walt Disney wanted to meet James personally even though he was currently auditioning hundreds of other actors for the Uncle Remus part. So he tested Baskett too. Walt Disney said, "He's my man." Not only did he get the part of the butterfly's voice, but also the voice of Brer Fox and Uncle Remus, becoming the first actor to be hired by Walt Disney for a full-length, live-action film. James' vocal talent was so extensive he even filled in for Johnny Lee, the voice of Brer Rabbit, in the Laughing Place sequence, when he was called away on a USO tour. In 1948, an honorary Academy Award for his role as Uncle Remus was bestowed upon him "For his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world, in Walt Disney's Song of the South." Sadly, in July of that same year, James passed away due to heart problems at age 44.

Baskett is remembered fondly by the Disney animators for his vitality and enormous talent. As an actor, he was a personal favorite of Walt Disney. Related Links: Song of the South (1946) - Connections - IMDb Song of the South (1946) Connections Showing all 183 items based on the same Uncle Remus tales Edited into Homicide: Brer Fox (1971) (TV Episode) A character from the movie is referenced in the episode title.

Splash Mountain (1989) (Video Game) The entire attraction is themed to this Disney film Bonkers: Casabonkers (1993) (TV Episode) Br'er Bear makes a cameo at the Rubber Room Stargate SG-1: Seth (1999) (TV Episode) Jack: "Eunuchs, as in 'snippity-do-dah'?" The Karate Dog (2005) (TV Movie) "and Zip-a-dee Doo-Dah..." Jeopardy!: Episode #22.204 (2006) (TV Episode) referenced in clue in "'U' Know You Know" category South Park: Imaginationland (2007) (TV Episode) Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit appear among the imaginary creatures.

Weeds: System Overhead (2011) (TV Episode) Andy says "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" Psych: True Grits (2012) (TV Episode) Thane says that Shawn's impression of him "sounds like Uncle Remus." Modern Family: Disneyland (2012) (TV Episode) "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" Modern Family: Snip (2012) (TV Episode) "Snip-a-dee-doo-dah" Tomorrowland (2015) In the scene where Frank, Casey and Athena are preparing to be teleported to Paris, Casey tells Frank she knows how things work, to which Frank replies "Well, zippity-doo for you". A reference to the song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah from the Disney film Song of the South (1946). Zootopia (2016) The outfits that Nick and Judy wear in the last third of the movie are updated versions of the outfits worn by B'rer Fox and B'rer Rabbit in Song of the South.

Featured in Song of the South Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah 1946 - YouTube Song of the South Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah 1946 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on May 20, 2011 Here is my 100th Video!!!!!!!!! So to celebrate, I thought I'd go back to those Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Days with Uncle Remus. Now, a Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Day is when you can't open your mouth without a song jumping right out of it! Lyrics Song of the South (1946) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error Song of the South ( 1946 ) Approved | The kindly story-teller Uncle Remus tells a young boy stories about trickster Br'er Rabbit, who outwits Br'er Fox and slow-witted Br'er Bear. Directors: a list of 35 titles created 20 Jun 2013 a list of 24 titles created 21 Feb 2014 a list of 28 images created 10 Apr 2014 a list of 34 titles created 29 Jan 2015 a list of 44 titles created 03 Aug 2015 Title: Song of the South (1946) 7.4/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards » Photos Directors: Alfred L.

Werker, Hamilton Luske, and 3 more credits » Stars: Robert Benchley, Frances Gifford, Buddy Pepper Directors: Norman Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi, and 3 more credits » Stars: Aurora Miranda, Carmen Molina, Dora Luz This heartwarming classic tells the tale of a country boy who adopts a mischevious black lamb and learns valuable lessons about love and dedication. Directors: Harold D. Schuster, Hamilton Luske Stars: Burl Ives, Beulah Bondi, Bobby Driscoll Jiminy Cricket hosts two Disney animated shorts: "Bongo," about a circus bear escaping to the wild, and "Mickey and the Beanstalk," a take on the famous fairy tale.

Stars: Edgar Bergen, Dinah Shore, Charlie McCarthy Directors: Robert Cormack, Clyde Geronimi, and 3 more credits » Stars: Nelson Eddy, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 2 more credits » Stars: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dennis Day Directors: James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, and 1 more credit » Stars: Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, Eric Blore Directors: Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, and 2 more credits » Stars: Fred Shields, José Oliveira, Mary Blair Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, and 9 more credits » Stars: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, Corey Burton A collection of animated shorts based on the stories and characters by A. A. Milne. Directors: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman Stars: Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, Barbara Luddy The treasure seeking adventures of young Jim Hawkins and pirate captain Long John Silver.

Director: Byron Haskin Directors: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, and 5 more credits » Stars: Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, James Baskett Edit Storyline Uncle Remus draws upon his tales of Brer Rabbit to help little Johnny deal his confusion over his parents' separation as well as his new life on the plantation. The tales: The Briar Patch, The Tar Baby and Brer Rabbit's Laughing place. Written by Paul Penna <tterrace@wco.com> We're headin' for the Laughin' Place! See more » Genres: December 1946 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia Walt Disney frequently met with director King Vidor , in hopes of hiring him to direct the live-action sequences. Vidor is also responsible for directing the sepia-tone Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz (1939), including Judy Garland 's legendary "Over the Rainbow" musical number. See more » Goofs Before Uncle Remus tells the story about the Laughing Place, the mud on Ginny's dress disappears and reappears between shots.

See more » Quotes [first lines] Uncle Remus : There's other ways of learning about the behind feet of a mule than getting kicked by them, sure as I'm named Remus. And just because these here tales is about critters like Br'er Rabbit an' Br'er Fox, that don't mean they ain't the same like can happen to folks! So them who can't learn from a tale about critters, just ain't got the ears tuned for listening. (United States) – See all my reviews For its time, a time when segregation was still aggressively enforced in the United States, 'Song of the South' was likely a progressive film, a major family film many of whose main characters were black, and whose animated characters were voiced by a black performer. Now, of course, 'Song of the South' is considered problematic due to its depiction of black slaves as happy and complacent, and its portrayal of them as Uncle Tom stereotypes.

Look closer, however, and you'll see a fine family film, warmhearted and gentle, both a technical landmark and a dazzling series of fables as told by Uncle Remus, the movie itself serving up a number of its own morals -- like the fact that a parent's good intentions can unwittingly stifle their child, or that storytelling is key to one's moral and social development. None of this matters, of course. Walt Disney has now chosen to ignore the film on the basis of its reportedly offensive depiction of African-Americans in the post-Civil War era. For one, this film was not intended as propaganda or considered offensive at the time, and was merely the product of American perceptions of the 1940s; it's not any worse than the scores of westerns that depicted Native Americans as savage Injuns. Of course, Native Americans were and continue to be a marginalized group while African-Americans have maintained a desire to assimilate and have.

Being that African-Americans have been far more vocal in their rejection of the injustices committed against them, it goes without saying that white-on-black bigotry is a far more sensitive issue than white-on-Indian bigotry (despite the fact that the Native Americans have suffered just as greatly at the hand of The Man as African-Americans), and therefore, we're less willing to excuse movies like 'Song of the South' than we are films like 'The Searchers.' But then why is 'Gone With the Wind' still given the green-light and not 'Song of the South'? Well, the answer is simple: The Walt Disney Corporation. Walt Disney will go to any length to keep its reputation clean, and 'Song of the South' is construed as a serious threat to it -- therefore, placing the film on moratorium and making it unavailable simply deters controversy. They can't undo it, but they can certainly hide it. It matters not the value of the film. In a heartbeat, Disney would withdraw something as beloved as the 'The Little Mermaid' if it were one day decided that the film was unfair or offensive in its depiction of mermaids. In 'Song of the South,' one sees an innocence and warmth.

In current Disney films, one sees a lot more of the cynicism and calculation of a soulless capitalistic corporate entity. The depiction of blacks in current cinema is a lot more shameful and offensive than anything in 'Song of the South.' Consider personalities like Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, and films such as 'Phat Beach' and 'Friday,' which depict African-Americans as lazy, dope-smoking ne'er-do-wells who treat women badly and have no morals. I guess the fact that these films are largely created by African-Americans for African-American audiences gives them a dubious seal of authenticity, being that African-American entertainers are, ostensibly, no longer being exploited by the white man and have developed their own independent voice. If that's true, why is it so much more difficult for black filmmakers such as Charles Burnett and Julie Dash, filmmakers with a truly independent voice, to either find financing for their films, or be met with commercial acceptance? 'Song of the South' might be inaccurate in its depiction of slavery, but it never makes a point of being *about* slavery, and it's no more inaccurate than hundreds of Hollywood's historical epics and costume dramas.

By making 'Song of the South' unavailable, Disney is doing a disservice to those involved in the film and, more importantly, to the millions who harbor fond memories of it. 256 of 276 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Sacred Scrolls Consider some facts about Song of the South (1946): Song of the South was one of Disney�s first films to successfully combine live-action and animation. Song of the South features the first Oscar-winning performance by a Black man (James Baskett won an honorary Oscar "For his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world"). Song of the South was the first film to feature performances by two Oscar-winning Black Americans, James Baskett and Hattie McDaniel, a feat which would not be repeated until 2001 by Rat Race , which featured Whoopi Goldberg and Cuba Gooding, Jr. (this is progress?). Song of the South won two Academy Awards in 1948. In addition to James Baskett winning an honorary Oscar, �Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah� won for Best Song.

�Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,� sung by Baskett in the film, is one of the most famous songs in the Disney library. Song of the South is one of the first Hollywood films to feature a Black man as a main character and was released uncut in the South. Many Hollywood films at the time, if they featured Black characters at all, would shoot duplicate scenes without Black characters, for release in the South. For example, in Hold Your Man (1933), starring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable, two versions of the wedding scene were shot: one with a Black minister and one with a White minister. Despite these achievements for Black Americans, Song of the South has been unfairly labeled as racist and hidden from view in the United States by the Walt Disney Company. Despite the fact that Splash Mountain, based on the Brer Rabbit characters ("Brer" is short for "Brother"), is one of the most popular rides at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and despite the fact that the songs are still some of the best loved in the Disney canon, the film remains unavailable on VHS or DVD in the US (though it has largely been available in Britain and Asia).

So what is it about this movie that is so offensive? To be honest, nothing really. It�s been made into a scapegoat � a boogeyman who�s legend is far worse than its reality. And it�s reality is a wonderful film that deserves to be seen. I first saw Song of the South in one of its re-issues in 1972. It was one of the first movies I ever got to see in a theater. My younger sister cried when it was over because she didn�t want to leave Uncle Remus. I saw it again for the 1986 re-release, and was thrilled with the chance to share it with my son. When I first rode Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World, I thought that since Disney had built a major ride around this movie, surely it would be re-released in theaters or released on video. Was I surprised to find out that it wasn�t, and that the film had apparently been shelved in the US. So, I started doing some research, and that�s when I learned of the film�s tainted reputation. I�d never thought of the film being racist in any way.

In fact, the theme of the movie is just the opposite � it�s about love, tolerance, and understanding our fellow man. Heaven forbid we should let our children watch that! Every time I go to Walt Disney World and ride Splash Mountain, it has made me want to see the film again. Well, I finally tracked down a copy and now that I have seen it again, I�d like to do my part to set the record straight. I feel that this film has been unjustly maligned and been made the victim of a great deal of misinformation. I invite you to have an open mind as you read this article. See Oscar-winner James Baskett sing the Oscar-winning song, " Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah " (QuickTime, 10.2 MB). You'll have a hard time seeing it anywhere else. Watch the complete " Tar Baby " story and judge it for yourself with an open mind (QuickTime, 45.3 MB). For more information on Song of the South, we highly recommend SongoftheSouth.net . Background on Brer Rabbit and the Tales of Uncle Remus It�s always best to put things in historical perspective.

The tales of Brer Rabbit and his fellow critters originated in Africa and were brought over orally by slaves. Once here, the tales were adapted to their new environments, with the stories� locales moved from African villages to Southern plantations. For example, one of the most famous (and most maligned) stories, "The Tar Baby," was originally called �Wakaima and the Clay Man,� which can be found in some collections of African folk tales. Author Julius Lester (who is Black) provides an excellent historical background on the stories in his The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit , in which he has updated the stories for modern children and modified the language to make them more readable, while still retaining the flavor of Black speech (more on that below). Another interesting comparison can be found in J.J. Reneaux�s Cajun Folktales , which contains a couple of stories that fit perfectly into the �Brer Rabbit� mold. Reneaux�s stories are quite interesting in that many of them are a combination of African, European, and Cajun influence, with a little voodoo thrown in as well. Nowhere else will you find a story where the villain is dispatched with cayenne pepper.

The Brer Rabbit stories were first collected by newspaper writer Joel Chandler Harris, who worked for the Atlanta Constitution. Harris had grown up in Georgia and knew many of the stories from his youth. He created the character of Uncle Remus as a Black man who lived on a Plantation after the Civil War (Uncle Remus was never depicted as a slave, neither in the original tales nor in the Disney film) and related his stories to a young White boy. The stories were originally published as a column, then later collected into separate volumes. This is where much of the resentment towards the Brer Rabbit tales begins -- Uncle Remus is seen by many Black Americans as an �Uncle Tom.� Harris went to great lengths to preserve the speech of the slaves from whom the tales originated. Harris had a great deal of respect for the language and felt that the stories lost something if not told in their original dialect. In addition to many Black Americans finding this oddly offensive (isn�t this the root of Ebonics?), it does pose a problem in making the Harris volumes very hard to read. Lester addresses this openly in his introduction and supports Harris� efforts by making his versions more readable while still retaining the Black American flavor.

However, he also eliminates the character of Uncle Remus and lets the stories stand on their own. Background on the Disney Version The Walt Disney Studios were nearly decimated by World War II. In addition to being drafted by the war effort to make training and educational films (which can now finally be seen in the new DVD release Walt Disney Treasures - On the Front Lines ) by the US Government, the Disney Studio also suffered a strike by the animators in an attempt to unionize. By the end of the war, Walt had neither the manpower nor the resources to complete an animated feature. He tackled this problem two ways: by creating �package� features, such as Fun and Fancy Free and Make Mine Music , which were anthologies of short subjects, and by finally venturing into live-action. But Walt being Walt and always seeking to do that which had never been done before, he decided to to not just do live-action, but to combine it with animation. This wasn�t the first time he�d done this, though. Walt�s first films, the Alice comedies, featured a live-action girl in an animated world. That was nothing, though, compared to what Walt had planned for his first feature release combining the two.

The sequences of James Baskett interacting with the animated environment, particularly when he sits down to fish with Brer Frog, are still impressive today. A Brief Overview of Song of the South For those of you who haven�t seen the film, the following is a brief synopsis: Young Johnny travels with his parents to his Grandmother�s Plantation. He is excited about the opportunity to finally meet Uncle Remus, of whom he�s heard a great deal, and to also hear first-hand Uncle Remus�s stories about Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. Upon arriving, Johnny is crushed to learn that his father is returning to Atlanta alone. His parents are planning to split up, which is the real reason for their trip. Johnny runs away and is found by Uncle Remus who tells him about Brer Rabbit�s own attempts to run away from trouble (�there ain�t no place that far�). Johnny also befriends Toby, one of the Black children on the Plantation, and Ginny, a poor White girl who lives nearby. Johnny also runs afoul of Ginny�s older brothers. Uncle Remus uses his stories to teach Johnny, Toby, and Ginny valuable lessons about life and to help them deal with difficult situations.

The Case Against Song of the South Here then, are the complaints you will hear about Song of the South, coupled with my responses: The film inaccurately depicts slaves as happy, singing folk who just love their Masters and life on the Plantation. False. This is, perhaps, the biggest misconception about Song of the South. The story actually takes place AFTER the Civil War, during the period known as the Reconstruction. Uncle Remus and the other Black characters are not tied to the Plantation and are free to go at any time. In fact, during one part of the film, Uncle Remus plans to leave for Atlanta because he doesn�t feel useful on the Plantation. While the Black characters do sing several times, singing is as much a part of Black culture as telling folk tales. Furthermore, this is a 1940s Disney movie. Disney movies were known for their music (hence the title, "Song of the South"). Another fact that is routinely ignored by this film�s detractors is that many former slaves actually did stay on the Plantations, even after they were free to go.

They had been born into slavery many generations before (the slave trade was ended a good century before slavery actually was -- and just for the record, the slave trade was started in Africa by Africans, exported by Arab traders, and brought to the American colonies by the Dutch) and knew nothing about supporting themselves. As repulsive as the thought may seem, some former slaves actually did feel that they were better off under slavery. This is true throughout the course of human history, from the Isrealites who complained to Moses after being freed from Egypt to the Russians who complained to Boris Yeltsin after the fall of the Soviet Union. Uncle Remus is an Uncle Tom, and the other Black characters are all negative stereotypes. False. One of the things that impressed me while watching the movie was how the Grandmother, who owns the Plantation, speaks to Uncle Remus as an equal. Uncle Remus shows the White characters respect, but as an individual and employer, not as a former slave. He also goes against the wishes of the Mother and Grandmother when he sees what�s best for the little boy, Johnny.

While Hattie McDaniel�s character, Aunt Tempy, can possibly be seen as more of a stereotype, it�s still a far cry from her Mammy character in Gone With the Wind , which is celebrated as one of the greatest films ever made (ranking #4 on AFI�s Top 100 list). In James Baskett�s Oscar-winning performance, Uncle Remus is portrayed as an old man who tells great stories and is seen as just that, with no regard to his skin color. This is an amazing feat for a film that was made when Hollywood films were routinely filled with racial stereotypes and White actors in make-up often portrayed people of color (such as Charlie Chan, who was never once portrayed by an Asian actor). Actually, all of the characters in Song of the South are somewhat stereotypical in some form or other, both Black and White. This is just Hollywood shorthand found in all movies made from the Teens to the 50s. But none of them are done so to be offensive, unlike other Disney films, such as Dumbo and The Artistocats (both of which are available on video), where racial stereotypes are used for comedy.

As far as stereotypes go, I strongly believe that films today, such as Bringing Down the House and Soul Plane do far more to reinforce racial stereotypes. For example, in Bringing Down the House, Queen Latifah�s character, Charlene, just got out of prison and is a tough, loud, pot-smoking, overtly sexual, jive-talking Black woman. The filmmakers completely ignore the sexual tension between her and Steve Martin�s character and instead hook her up with the pervert played by Eugene Levy. Where James Baskett�s Uncle Remus is a fully-realized character with wants and a complete character arc, today�s Black actors are largely stuck with what Spike Lee has termed �the Magic Negro,� who�s sole purpose is to make life better for the White man (see Bringing Down the House, The Green Mile , Family Man , Bruce Almighty , The Legend of Baggar Vance , etc.). Worse still, in my mind, is Amistad , which tackled the issue of slavery through the eyes of a bunch of white people while ignoring the Black man who was the central character (and this film was produced by Debbie Allen). Song of the South is extremely racist. False.

If anything, Song of the South is the exact opposite and amazingly ahead of its time for a film made in 1946. Its message is pure Rodney King. You have White kids and Black kids playing together without a care for race or social standing (just like Our Gang/The Little Rascals). The kids look up to and respect Uncle Remus. You can�t help but love him. The �bad guys� (the Favers boys, Grandma, Mother, and Father) are all White. Uncle Remus becomes a father-figure to Johnny since his own father abandons him. This is racist? The most racist film ever made has got to be Birth of a Nation , which features most of the Black characters portrayed by white actors in blackface; the mulatto characters as all crazy because their mixed race has mixed up their heads; black characters eating fried chicken, drinking whisky, and putting their bare, dirty feet on the desks during a meeting of the Reconstruction government; a Black man attacking a White woman, driven crazy by her purity; and finally, the Ku Klux Klan charging on horseback to the rescue at the end. This film, as well as Gone With the Wind , is widely available on VHS and DVD.

Furthermore, if Song of the South is so racist, why does Disney sell it in Britain and Asia? Of the animated sections, the story most singled out is "The Tar Baby." Yes, the tar baby harkens back to an age of Black stereotypes, such as the Mammy and the Minstrel, but those arguments only stand up for people who know about its past history. For children watching the film today, they only see a figure made of tar and don�t see the cultural reference at all. In Splash Mountain, the Tar Baby is replaced by a honey-filled beehive. While this smacks of being rather PC, it does actually work well for the ride. In the section at which this part of the story appears, the Imagineers only had a few seconds to convey this portion of the story (you�re going uphill towards the big drop), and the Tar Baby would take too long to establish. Historically, the tar baby itself was created by the tale�s original Black authors, not Joel Chandler Harris. In fact, Lester leaves it intact in his retelling. As Compared to What?

Question: James Baskett, who sang the song ‘Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah’, played which character in the 1946 Disney film ‘Song of the South’?
Answer: Uncle Remus